野味 (yě wèi) — game meat; wild animals and birds hunted for fo… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'wild flavor', 野味 refers to wild animals and birds hunted for food (game meat), not farmed livestock. Often carries a strong connotation of hunting and wildlife conservation in modern Chinese.

noun

game meatwild animals and birds hunted for food

Examples

野味，。
Hěn duō rén xǐ huan chī yě wèi, yóu qí shì yě jī hé yě tù.
Many people like to eat game, especially pheasant and hare.
野味，。
Zhè zhǒng yě wèi shì cóng shān shàng dǎ lái de, fēi cháng xīn xiān.
This game was hunted from the mountains; it's very fresh.
，野味。
Wèi le bǎo hù yě shēng dòng wù, wǒ men yīng gāi shǎo chī yě wèi.
To protect wild animals, we should eat less game.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

味wèiflavor; food

野 means wild and 味 means flavor or food, giving the idea of food from wild animals.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

田田tiánfield

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

予

予yǔ野yě

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口未味

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

未

未wèi味wèi

Same sound today

味 combines 口 (mouth) with 未, which gives the sound wèi; the mouth part relates to taste.

Appears in

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